1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to instruments for chemical reaction, amplification, and detection, and in particular, to a system for doing polymerase chain reaction, amplification, and detection.
2. State of Technology
U. S. Pat. No. 5,589,136 for silicon-based sleeve devices for chemical reactions, by Northrup et al, patented Dec. 31, 1996, provides the following description: xe2x80x9cA silicon-based sleeve type chemical reaction chamber that combines heaters, such as doped polysilicon for heating, and bulk silicon for convection cooling. The reaction chamber combines a critical ratio of silicon and silicon nitride to the volume of material to be heated (e.g., a liquid) in order to provide uniform heating, yet low power requirements. The reaction chamber will also allow the introduction of a secondary tube (e.g., plastic) into the reaction sleeve that contains the reaction mixture thereby alleviating any potential materials incompatibility issues. The reaction chamber may be utilized in any chemical reaction system for synthesis or processing of organic, inorganic, or biochemical reactions, such as the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and/or other DNA reactions, such as the ligase chain reaction, which are examples of a synthetic, thermal-cycling-based reaction. The reaction chamber may also be used in synthesis instruments, particularly those for DNA amplification and synthesis.xe2x80x9d
A paper titled xe2x80x9cHandheld advanced Nucleic Acid Analyzerxe2x80x9d was presented by W. J. Benett, J. B. Richards, P. Stratton, D. R. Hadley, B. H. Bodtker, S. L. Nasarabadi, F. P. Milanovich, R. P. Mariella, R. P. Koopman, and P. Belgrader at the Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers Symposium on Environmental and Industrial Sensing, Boston, Mass. Nov. 5-8, 2000. This paper is incorporated herein by reference.
A paper titled xe2x80x9cMiniaturized detection system for handheld PCR assaysxe2x80x9d was presented by J. B. Richards, W. J. Benett, P. Stratton, D. R. Hadley, S. L. Nasarabadi, and F. P. Milanovich, at the Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers Symposium on Environmental and Industrial Sensing, Boston, Mass. Nov. 5-8, 2000. This paper is incorporated herein by reference.
The present invention provides a polymerase chain reaction DNA amplification and detection system. An embodiment of the system includes one or more sample chamber modules adapted to contain biological sample volumes. Each of the sample chamber modules has the ability to support a duplex assay and has parallel interrogation ports operatively connected to the chamber modules. Each of the ports has an optical fluorescence detection system. Additional aspects, advantages, and features of the invention are set forth in part in the following description. Various aspects, advantages, and features of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon examination of the description and by practice of the invention.